Not on Instagram? Use It to Build Your Brand, Find Success

Yrsa Daley-Ward, a traditionally published poet, attracts quite a crowd to her poetry readings at bookstores.

How did she gain this popularity? One word. Instagram.

She’s one of a growing breed of poets who uses Instagram and has been referred to as Instapoets.

Most Instapoets are self-published, such as Lang Laev (1 million+ followers on Tumblr), Robert Drake (1.3 million Instagram followers as of three years ago), and Tyler Knott Gregson (335,000 followers on Instagram).

In the New York Times last weekend, journalist Lovia Gyarkye reported that Daley-Ward:

“is part of a new generation of writers using social media to share their work, build their brand and find an audience.”

Perhaps the New York Times reporter just realized it but writers have been doing this for several years now. (In fact, I wrote a blog post about this phenomenon among indie poets three years ago.)

According to the 2018 Pew Research Center report on social media data, Instgram is the second most popular online platform, after YouTube

And as of last week, Instagram now has 1 billion users.

The New York Times reported that Instagram poets vary the way they use the online network.

“They use the platform in multiple ways: adding images to their poems, taking photos of printed text or, in the case of Daley-Ward, filming their laptop screens as they write.”

Below are examples of some of Daley-Ward’s Instagram posts. In this post, she shares a poem from the printed page of her book.

In this post, she encourages people to attend an event.

This is a post from Tyler Knott Gregson:

And here’s a post from Tumblr from Lang Leav:

Now Follow These Four Tips

If you’re a poet, and you’re wondering what you need to do to reach your audience, follow these steps:

Sign up for Tumblr. Add your blog posts, poetry and images. Remember to keep it simple, don’t be afraid to show your true personality, join conversations with readers and other poets, and above all, be visual. Post daily.

Comments

Hi Frances,
I’m a friend of Chris’s. I found your post on his blog. I am looking to grow my Instagram following so I appreciate the tips. I tried to find you on Instagram so I can see your feed, but many people have your name. If you follow me, I’ll follow back. I’m here https://www.instagram.com/janicewald/
Janice